Evidence Preservation During an Investigation

A hold is ‘do not delete’ plus IT collection — a court evidence preservation is a different, formal tool, and neither is an account freeze.

Inside a company, preservation means a written hold, WeCom/email snapshots, and notarial capture before confrontation. If a third party or a rogue employee will destroy evidence, Civil Procedure Law evidence preservation through a court is available — that is not property preservation (the disputes freeze pages). Do not seize personal phones as a first reflex (WeChat related guide). Litigation evidence rules explain how it later lands. This page is the hold. Dawn raids are when the government is collecting, not you.

The classification screen

4 questions before you choose the route.

This page identifies the right question and evidence. It does not determine the legal outcome on a reader’s facts.

Internal hold enough?

Employees and IT.

Hold

Need a court order against a third party?

evidence preservation.

Court

Notary for WeChat?

Before the interview.

Notary

Do not confuse with asset freeze

Resolve the do not confuse with asset freeze question separately before choosing the route.

Not freeze

Working rule: Inside a company, preservation means a written hold, WeCom/email snapshots, and notarial capture before confrontation.

What changes the answer

The signal ledger.

These facts move the question beyond a label and into a product, money-flow and control analysis.

Signal

Ask the operating question

Why it changes the route

Confiscate personal phones in the lobby

WeChat related guide risk.

PIPL/labour.

Call it asset preservation

Wrong tool.

Disputes pages.

No written hold

IT keeps auto-deleting.

Failure.

Prepare before you escalate

Bring a compact evidence docket—not a pitch deck.

Give a compliance team or counsel the operating facts that reveal the perimeter.

01Hold noticeWho received it.

02Collection logWhat was imaged.

03Notary certificatesChats.

Common confusions

Questions people ask before they build.

Short answers for orientation. The right result can change with the service model and current rules.

Is this the disputes evidence-rules page?

That page is how courts weigh exhibits. This is how you keep them from vanishing.

Can we image a home PC?

Usually not without a strong basis and often a court. Company devices first.

Primary authorities

Reviewed sources support orientation, not a fact-specific assessment.

PRC Anti-Unfair Competition Law (NPC)

SAMR

Supreme People’s Procuratorate

National laws database (NPC)